Waita Respond to Criticisms Surrounding U17 Selection

National under 17 Head Coach, Stanley Waita has
responded to critics regarding his selection of the World Cup-bound youth team.

Waita told the player’s parents & guidance
during a brief thanksgiving & send out service hosted at the SIFF Academy
before their departure.

Following the omission of a star player, Maxwell
Keana recently; the public through the social network (Facebook) criticized the
team management regarding its selections.

“This team proves all critics wrong, that our
selection was biased and favored. I want to tell you parents that these
speculations are all wrong, I don’t favor anybody or my wantoks (relatives) to
be in this team.

However, the head coach played down the
criticisms saying that his management worked hard to build these players to be
independent, beginning at this youthful age.

“My team is a mixture of all our nine provinces
in the country. We have a player representing Renbell, a player from Tikopia,
it’s a first of a kind for a team representing Solomon to have a combination of
ethnicity,” Waita said.

“You see these players, individually they proved
themselves to be in this squad. Despite the critics especially in social media,
I want to clarify these. These players are well disciplined,” Waita said.

“We don’t just build up football players, but we
are bringing up leaders that can work independently without the support and
dependence on your parents.

Mr. Waita thanked the parents for their support,
despite the challenges the team faced since they became runners-up last year in
the Oceania U17 tournament and booking a place at the Youth World Cup finals.

“This team made history representing the whole of
Solomon Islands, and they are the only team in the country to reach such stages
in football. We all should be proud, that your ambassador is representing us on
the global stage.

Meanwhile, the team left the country en route to
Brazil on Friday the 18th.

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